


Get Dunked On

by fluffy_chan



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: (sorry), ...& all the other contestants of the first season of Total Drama, Everyone is probably ooc, I couldn't think of anything else to call it..., I have literally zero motivation, I repeat, I've never posted on here before, THE TITLE IS JUST A JOKE FOR RIGHT NOW, Total drama island - Freeform, a joke, maybe slow updates?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2019-08-06 18:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16393004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffy_chan/pseuds/fluffy_chan
Summary: (In case you didn't read the tags, the title is currently a joke)We all know and love (some more than others) the cartoon series of Total Drama.Who could forget the classic that started it all?Anyway, following the basic troupes that always happen with these types of works, in this story, there is an extra contestant - making for a grand total of twenty-three campers. Also following the same troupes, guess who she's shipped with?((Original summary from my Quotev page: "When Chris decides to add another contestant on the new reality TV show, Total Drama Island, things change a little. For example, having two trouble-makers, Duncan and Lily, makes things a little more...dramatic."))





	1. Audition Tape

**Author's Note:**

> Wow.  
> I've had this account for a few months now, and still haven't posted anything (guess that's changing now).  
> Sorry about the OOC for pretty much every character.  
> I have a Quotev account, too, if you want to check out some cringe-worthy fanfiction about creepypasta I wrote when I was 13.

  A screen shows static, before flickering to show a slightly tanned hand coming away from the camera lens.

   "Is this on? Cam said that the button on top was the one to turn it on and off..."

   When the picture finally came into focus, it showed a petite girl wearing a black crop-top, white skinny jeans, and black combat boots. Her hair, obviously dyed, was bright pink and pulled back into a high ponytail.

   "Okay, so my name's Lily, first of all. Um..."

   The girl looked down at the paper she pulled from her back pocket.

   "The audition paper says to give my best traits? I have a black belt in Taekwondo, so there's that. And my friends say I'm really good at the guitar, even though I've never had lessons."

   Lily stopped for a second and tapped the side of her head a couple of times in thought.

   "I guess those are all just skills, huh? I guess my best trait is that I'm quick on my feet."

   As if the universe decided to test her statement, the door to the room Lily was in opened, and a heavy-looking bag was thrown her way.

   True to her previous words, Lily dodged the duffle bag that was easily the same size as her.

   "Cameron!" she yelled, turning to the door just out of frame, "I'm auditioning for Total Drama Island!"

   "Sorry little sis. I didn't mean to interrupt." Cameron chuckled, still out of frame.

   Lily rolled her brown eyes.

   "Whatever, Cam."

   The door clicked closed, and the teen returned her full attention to the camera.

   "If you pick me, I'm going to-"

   A loud clatter that sounded suspiciously like a stack of plates being dropped sounded through the room.

   Lily turned to the door, red-faced.

   "Cameron!"

   The video suddenly goes to black, signifying the end of the tape.


	2. The Not So Great Outdoors (Pt 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follows along with the episode with the same name...with an extra camper added in.

(3rd POV)

 

*The camera turns on, and a man pops up from under the view of the camera*

 

“Yo!” he greets, “We’re coming at you live from Camp Wawanakwa, somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario. I’m your host, Chris McLean.”

The man, now known as Chris, continues to talk, “Dropping season one of the hottest new reality show on television, right now!”

To empathize his point, Chris points down, then starts walking as the camera pans.

“Here’s the deal - twenty three campers have signed up to spend eight weeks right here at this crummy old summer camp.”

Chris stops walking right next to the sign for the camp.

“They’ll compete in challenges against each other, then have to face the judgment of their fellow campers. Every three days, one team will either win a reward, or watch one of their members walk down the Dock of Shame, take a ride on the Loser Boat and leave Total Drama Island for good.”

The camera cuts to a campfire pit surrounded by chopped up logs.

Chris pops back into frame and starts to speak, “Their fate will be decided here,” Chris points his thumb over his shoulder, pointing to the pit, “at the dramatic Campfire Ceremonies, where each week all but one camper will receive a marshmallow.”

Chris grabs a marshmallow and eats it, before continuing his monologue, “In the end, only one will be left standing and will be rewarded with cheesy tabloid fame and a small fortune, which let’s face it, they’ll probably blow in a week.”

“To survive, they’ll have to battle -” the camera cuts to each item as he lists it, “black flies, grizzly bears, disgusting camp food, and,” the camera cuts back to Chris, who’s now back on the dock, “each other.”

The camera once again cuts to various shots of the island, “Every moment will be caught on one of the hundreds of cameras situated all over the camp.”

Once again, the camera is trained on Chris, as he finishes his monologue, “Who will crumble under the pressure? Find out right now,” Chris points to the camera, then gestures to the island as the view zooms out, “on Total Drama Island!”

 

 

 

The camera fades back in from black, and once again shows Chris standing on the Dock of Shame.

“Welcome back to Total Drama Island. Alright, it’s time to meet our first eleven campers.” Chris points up with a smug look on his face, “We told them they’d all be staying at a five-star resort, so if they seem a little T.O’d, that’s probably why.”

The camera cuts to the end of the dock, where the first of campers has arrived. A girl wearing an outfit resembling a Girl Scout’s uniform steps onto the dock, ugly orange suitcase in hand. She smiles, and reveals her braces.

“Beth, what’s up?” Chris greets.

The girl, Beth, runs down the dock and hugs Chris.

“It’s so incredulous to meet you!” Beth pulls away from the hug, “Wow, you’re much shorter in real life.”

“Uh, thanks.” Chris’ tone is a mix between insulted and unsure.

The next camper, a well-built guy with a bit of a beard and semi-dark skin, arrives.

He gets off the boat, duffle bags in hand, and walks over the Chris.

“D.J.”

“Yo, Chris McLean. How’s it going?” D.J. greets as they high-five. D.J. looks around, “Hey, you sure you got the right place here? Where’s the hot tub at?” he questions.

“Yo dawg, this is it. Camp Wawanakwa.” Chris replys, the smug look from before once again in place.

D.J., with an angry expression, grabs his bags and starts to walk to the end of the dock where Beth was already standing, “Humph. Looked a lot different on the application form…”

A goth-looking girl gets off a boat.

Chris greets her as she picks her luggage off the dock, introducing her as Gwen.

She looks around, slightly confused, as she walks to the center of the dock.

“You mean we’re staying here?” She questions, sounding almost stunned.

“No,” Chris replies, “You’re staying here. My crib is an Airstream with A.C., that-a-way.”

Gwen gets in Chris’ face, an angry look on her face.

“I did not sign up for this.” she points to herself.

Chris produces a stack of paperwork from thin air, “Actually, you did.”

Gwen takes the stack of paperwork, tears it up, and throws over the edge of the dock, into the water with a smug smile.

Chris looks stunned for a split second before trading the look in for his usual smug one, “The great thing about lawyers is…” he pulls a copy of the same paperwork Gwen just threw into the lake, “they make lots of copies.”

Gwen turns away and picks her luggage back up, “I am not staying here.”

“Cool. I hope you can swim though, because your ride just left.”

Gwen stares at the departing boat before turning back to Chris, “Jerk!”

The next boat arrives with a party boy named Geoff, who is wearing a cowboy hat and a pink button-down shirt. He greets Chris like a total bro and fist bumps him.

The camera cuts to where Beth, D.J., and Gwen are all standing.

“If they say ‘man’ one more time, I’m gonna puke,” Gwen says.

“Everybody,” Chris claims everyone’s attention as Geoff walks over to the trio, “this is Lindsay.

A pretty blonde that looks like a real-life Barbie doll steps onto the dock.

Chris hides his mouth with his hand from her view, and whisper-yells to the camera, “Not too shabby.”

Lindsay comes over to Chris, and reveals that she’s a total airhead.

Next is a mean-looking Asian girl, who Chris greets simply, “Heather.”

With a glare Heather stomps around the dock, glaring at everything. Beth runs up to her and introduces herself.

“Hi! Looks like we’re your new friends for the next eight weeks!”

As she talks, Beth accidentally spits on Heather, who recoils in disgust.

Before Heather can respond to Beth, loud rock and roll music fills the air, as the next person arrives.

A typical-looking bad boy, piercings and all, throws his bag onto the dock, before jumping off the boat after it.

“Duncan, dude.”

Duncan raises his fist, “I don’t like surprises.”

Chris reponds a little nervously, “Yeah, your parole officer warned me about that, man.” Chris folds his arms over his chest and tilts his head a little, adding to the smugness of his expression, “He also told me to give his a hollar any time to have you returned to Juvie.

Duncan rolls his eyes and sniffs, before smiling and responding, “Okay, then.”

He grabs his bag and walks down to the end of the dock, with the others.

“Meet you by the campfire, gorgeous,” he says as he passes Heather.

With an attitude, Heather replies, “Drop dead, you skeez.”

Heather follows after Duncan to the small group at the end of the dock.

“I’m calling my parents,” she announces, “You can not make me stay here!”

The next boat then arrives, with a boy wearing red workout gear waterskiing behind it.

Chris introduces him as Tyler, then he wipes out, and lands in the pile of luggage at the end of the dock.

Heather, naturally, whines about her shoes getting wet.

Tyler gives a thumb-up from the pile, while Chris laughs.

A creepy-sounding sigh from behind Chris shuts him up, as well as alerts him to the arrival of the next camper.

“Welcome to camp, Harold,” he greets.

Harold looks around, while Beth questions what exactly he’s looking at.

“So you mean this show is at a crappy summer camp and not on some big stage or something?” he questions.

“You got it.”

Harold pumps his fist, “Yes! That is so much more favorable to my skills.”

Chris cringes to his back as he walks to join the others, while the next boat docks.

Slipping back into host-mode, Chris introduces the next camper.

“Contestant number nine is Trent.”

Trent, a good-looking guy with green eyes and black hair greets Chris, “Hey, good to meet you, man. Saw you on that figure-skating show. Nice work.”

The pair fist-bumped.

“Hey, thanks, man. I knew I rocked that show!”

Trent looks around for the first time, and his initial hyped-up attitude is slightly dampened.

“So this is it?” he looks to the others, and watches a Harold picks his nose. Now slightly worried, he walks over to the others, “Alrighty then…”

As he joins the others, he and Gwen share a look, causing them both to smile.

The camera cuts to the next boat as it arrives, carrying a blond surfer girl whose holding a red and orange surfboard.

“Hey! What’s up?” she greets as she walks up to Chris.

“Alright, our surfer chick, Bridgette, is here.” he gestures to Bridgette holding her board.

Duncan scoffs, “Nice board. This ain’t Malibu, honey.”

She responds, “I thought we were going to be on a beach.”

Chris cuts in, over-enthusiastic, as the camera cuts to a crappy-looking beach, covered in trash.

Bridgette sighs, disappointed, “Great.”

Chris starts speaking again, “Alright, that makes -” he gets hit in a head by accident as Bridgette ducks down to grab her duffle bag, “Ow! Darn it, that hurt!”

Bridgette goes to the end of the dock, and introduces herself, almost hitting several people with her board as she turns around. As Heather starts to whine about things taking too long, the next boat arrives.

A boy with longish hair, and dressed in preppy clothes steps onto the dock as the boat drives away.

“Our,” Chris cringes at the pain in his head from getting hit by Bridgette’s board, “next camper is Noah.”

When he opens his mouth to speak, it’s very obvious that he doesn’t want to be here, “You got my memo about my life threatening allergies?” he questions, not even greeting Chris.

“I’m sure someone did.” Chris sounds like he doesn’t really care.

“Good. Is this where we’re staying?”

“No,” Duncan replies, cracking his knuckles, “it’s your mother’s house, and we’re throwing a party.”

Noah rolls his eyes, “Cute. Nice piercings, original - do them yourself?”

Duncan grabs his lip and pulls him forward, pulling a needle out from nowhere, “Yeah. You want one?”

Noah gulps, “Uh, no thanks. Can I have my lip back, please? Thanks.”

Next, a slightly tanned girl with bright pink hair jumps onto the dock from the boat with a large duffle bag in hand.

“‘Sup.” she greets Chris.

“Lily, great to see you. You’ve gotten another piercing since you sent in your audition tape.”

She just shrugs, then goes to join the other campers at the end of the dock.

 

(Lily’s POV)

 

After greeting Chris, I walk over to the others standing on the edge of the dock.

“Oh great, now there’s two of them…” a boy dressed in preppy clothes sarcastically says with a roll of his eyes.

“You’re just jealous because you know you wouldn’t be able to pull the badass look off,” I respond without missing a beat, smirk in place.

I look around the group, before the same boy pipes back up.

“You know, piercings don’t automatically make you cool.”

I roll my eyes, “They do when you can do what I can.”

“Well, what can you do?” he scoffs, hands on his hips.

I grab the collar of his shirt, and get in his face, “Wanna find out, preppy boy?”

He raises his hands in mock surrender, “No thanks.”

I glare at him as I let go, “That’s what I thought.”

I go back to analyzing the others.

So far, there’s a girl with braces who seems kinda nerdy, a blonde surfer girl, a girl who looks like a walking, talking Barbie doll, a girl with a gothic sense of fashion, and a girl who just screams ‘Mean Girl’. As for the guys, there’s a ginger who just gives me the creeps, a well build guy who seems pretty nice, a jock wearing red workout gear, a dude with a guitar, a punk with a green mohawk, and a party dude wearing a hat.

I walk over to the punk and hold my fist out.

He bumps it with his own, “Nice hair, princess. Do it yourself?”

I smirk, “Yours isn’t too shabby. And yeah, I did. You do your own piercings?”

He looks proud as he responds, “Why yes, yes I did.”

“Cool. I just got my cartilage pierced, and my septum’s next on the list.” I point to my nose.

“Great, the two weird punk wanna-be’s are getting along! Why don’t you go join them, weird goth-girl?” says the mean girl with a smug look.

The goth-looking girl looks offended, and like she’s going to say something, but I beat her to it.

“Oh can it, you Regina George knock-off. At least my face is real, and not covered in five pounds of makeup.” she looks offended, “‘sides, I think you’re just jealous. I bet mommy and daddy don’t want their poor widdle girl covered in piercings and tats.” my voice shifts from my normal tone to a condescending baby-talk voice as the sentence progresses.

By this point, her face is bright red, and she stops her foot, crosses her arms, and looks away, “Whatever!”

I laugh at her reaction, before turning back to the punk guy.

“I never introduced myself, did I? Name’s Lily, certifiable badass.”

He laughs at this, “Pretty sure you’ve never been to Juvie. I’m Duncan.”

As the remaining contestants arrive, I continue to talk with Duncan, and eventually bring the goth girl - who introduced herself as Gwen, into the conversation.

Finally, the last contestant, a ginger who shook the whole dock when she got off the boat because she hit her chin falling into the water, arrived and was introduced to us a Izzy.

I whisper to Duncan, not taking my eyes off her, “Is it just me, or does that girl just seem to radiate crazy?”

Chris speaks, and it’s the first time I actually pay attention to him since arriving here, “First thing’s first: we need a group photo for the promos. Everyone on the end of the dock!” he orders.

We all leave our luggage where it is, and walk to the other end of the dock where we were all dropped off. We organize ourselves into two rows, one sitting on the dock, and the other standing behind the first.

Since I’m pretty short, I sit in the front. I end up sitting next to the preppy girl, who introduces herself as Courtney the moment I sit down. I give my signature smirk and a peace sign when Chris pulls out the camera.

“Okay! One...two...three…”

The camera clicks, but Chris looks at it in confusion.

“Okay, forgot the lens cap.” he pushes a button, and the shutters open, revealing the lens of the camera, “Okay, hold that pose. One...two...oh, no, wait, card’s full.” He gives us a goofy grin.

I whisper to Courtney as he fumbles with the camera, “I’m pretty sure he’s stalling for something…”

Before she can respond, Chris starts back up again.

“Got it. Okay. Everyone say ‘Wawanakwa!’”

We all chorus the word with varying levels of enthusiasm as the picture is taken.

As soon as the shutters snap close, the dock starts to shake, before we’re all in the water with pieces of the dock floating around us.

I come to the surface of the water with a gasp before giving Chris my best glare, along with almost every other camper.

“Okay, guys, dry off and meet at the campfire pit in ten.” Chris calls from his spot on the boat.

“You’re an asshole!” I call from my spot in the water as the boat speeds off.

Ten minutes later, we’re all by the campfire pit, as Chris starts to make announcements.

“This is Camp Wawanakwa, your new home for the next eight weeks. The campers sitting around you will be your cabin mates, your competition, and maybe even your friends. You dig?”

Since I sat next to where Duncan decided to stand when we got to the fire pit, I was able to watch as Harold tried to make friends with Duncan, but ended up getting threatened. It took some energy to not laugh at Harold’s crestfallen face when he was rejected.

“The camper who manages to stay on Total Drama Island the longest without getting voted off will win one hundred thousand dollars.”

Duncan walks up to the front as Chris is talking, and cuts in right after the prize is announced.

“Excuse me. What will the sleeping arrangements be, because I’d like to request a bunk under her?” he points his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of where I sat. In response, I did fingers guns at him.

“They’re not coed, are they?” Courtney asked, wide eyed and sounding worried.

“Killjoy…” I say under my breath.

Chris shakes his head, “No. Girls get one side of each cabin and dudes get the other.”

I roll my eyes, “Make that two killjoys…”

“You say something?” Harold asks from behind me.

Suppressing a shudder, I answer, “Nope.”

Down the row, Lindsay raises her hand and adds to the conversation, “Excuse me, Kyle? Can I have a cabin with a lake view since I’m the prettiest?”

“Okay, you are. But that’s not really how it works here. And it’s Chris.”

At this, Lindsay looks disappointed.

Duncan has returned to the back near where I’m sitting, and I start talking to him as the girls dressed alike (I never got their names) start going on about why they can’t be separated.

“I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure that you don’t get hives from being separated from someone…” I whisper to him, and earn a soft chuckle in response.

Everyone else starts to break into conversation, and my attention is drawn to the big guy when he announces that camp’s going to be like a big sleepover.

I roll my eyes and look away from the group, and over to where Duncan had been standing. Instead, I see him off a little ways, giving a struggling deer a noogie.

“Here’s the deal,” Chris’ voice cuts over all of our conversations, “We’re gonna split you into two teams. If I call your name out, go stand over there.”

He looks down at the paper and starts to read off names.

“Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Beth, Katie, Owen, Leshawna, Justin, and Noah. From this moment on, you are officially known as...the Screaming Gophers!” he tosses the group a green banner with a poorly sewn patch of a gopher on it.

“The rest of you, over here. Geoff, Bridgette, D.J., Tyler, Sadie, Izzy, Courtney, Ezekiel, Duncan, Eva, and Harold. Move, move, move, move!”

Everyone except me scrambles to the spot Chris pointed to.

“You guys will be officially known as…” Chris tosses a rolled up red banner to the group, “the Killer Bass!”

“Uh, Chris? You forgot someone over here.” I raise my hand and wave it around from my spot on the log.

“Oh, yeah, whichever team loses today gets Lily on their team to make up for the lost member. She’ll be able to vote at tonight’s campfire elimination ceremony, but will have invincibility. Any questions?” Chris doesn’t pause long enough for anyone to actually ask anything, “Alright, campers! You can your team will be on camera in all public areas during this competition.”

Chris pauses for a moment, before gesturing to an outhouse a little ways off, “You will also be able to share your innermost thoughts on tape with video diaries anytime you want. Let the audience at home know what you’re really thinking, or just get something off your chest.”

Immediately, there’s a line to the confession can, and I’m part of it. Right after Lindsay gets out and complains that there’s no camera guy, it’s my turn.

 

((Confession Start) “So, this is something new and exciting!” I exclaim, wide smile on my face. It quickly falls into a neutral frown. “As fun as I hope this is gonna be, I need to watch my back. So far, Gwen and Duncan seem like the only people that I’ll trust. Lindsay is, well, Lindsay, Heather’s mean, Harold gives me the creeps, Izzy seems to radiate crazy, and the big guy - Owen I think? - he seems like he can’t keep a secret. Then there’s that preppy girl, Courtney…” I trail off, “She seems nice and caring, but almost too nice and caring…” (Confession End))

 

After everyone else in line goes, Chris starts talking again.

“Any questions?” I open my mouth to speak, “Cool,” he continues, “Let’s find your cabins.”

I roll my eyes as I trail behind him, along with everyone else.

“Gophers, you’re in the east cabin. Bass, you’re in the west. Lily, put your stuff whereever for now.”

I follow behind the rest of the Killer Bass and set my stuff down just inside the door, before heading back out to sit on the steps to the cabin.

I watch as Lindsay comes out of the Gopher’s cabin and asks Chris where the outlets are.

“There are some in the communal bathrooms just across the way,” he answers.

“Communal bathrooms?” Lindsay questions, “But I’m not Catholic.”

“Not Communion, communal.”

“It means we all shower together! Think of ‘community’!” I yell from my spot.

I zone out as Owen embarasses himself in front of his cabin mates.

Geoff comes out of the guy’s side of the Bass cabin and stands right behind me, calling to Chris.

“Excuse me, Chris, is there a chaperone of any kind in this facility?”

Chris looks around, “You’re all sixteen years old, as old any counselor in training at a regular summer camp. So, other than myself, you’ll be unsupervised.” he shrugs.

“Bad idea, man.” I say.

“You have half an hour to unpack and meet me back at the main lodge starting...now.”

I roll my eyes again.

 

((Confession Start) “With as much as I’m rolling my eyes today, they’re almost like a washing machine on a spin cycle...almost. And leaving two dozen teenagers unattended? I’m all for trouble-making, but I’m pretty sure that someone might end up leaving in a body bag by the end of this.” I shudder, “Especially if there’s girl drama involving a guy.” (Confession End))

 

After Chris walks away, and ear piercing shriek resounds from the Gopher’s cabin.

Immediately, everyone bolt towards the noise.

“If there’s an axe murderer in there, you’re all getting chopped to bits, and I’m not cleaning that up!” I yell to them as I walk over.

“What is it? Kill it, kill it!”Lindsay shrieks as a small cockroach crawls around on the floor.

D.J. screams when he sees it, and jumps onto the closest bed, which collapses under his weight.

Gwen sighs, “That was my bed.”

Everyone starts panicking as the roach continues minding its own business, crawling around on the floor.

“Guys! It’s just a little bug!” I yell.

Duncan then comes in with an axe, and chops the poor creature in half.

“That’s one way to kill a cockroach,” I hear Gwen say.

“My thoughts exactly, Gwen.”

Tyler goes up to Lindsay, who’s still up on the stool, starts to talk to her. He says something that I can’t hear, but it causes her to smile at him like a love-sick schoolgirl.

“They always go for the jocks,” Duncan scoffs.

I shrug, “Eh, not always.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, princess?”

I give quick wink up to him as I turn and walk out of the cabin, “Just saying.”

 

((Confession Start) “Is it a bad thing I think I already have a crush on him?” (Confession End))

 

A few minutes after the whole cockroach fiasco, we’re all lined up for lunch in the main lodge. I stand right behind Gwen, with Duncan behind me.

“Listen up!” The cook, named Chef Hatchet, yells at us, “I serve it three times a day, and you will eat it three times a day! Grab your tray, get your food, and sit your butts down now!”

Harold and Beth, who are at the front of the line, must have said something to Chef, because he suddenly yells at Harold, “You’ll get a whole lot of shut the heck up!”

I stifle a laugh as he runs away from Chef to sit down.

The line progresses, and eventually it’s my turn to get food. Overall, it doesn’t look too bad - maybe a little crappier than a school lunch.

I grab my tray with a shrug, “Thanks, Chef.”

I sit down with Duncan, and start to eat as Chris comes in.

“Welcome to the main lodge.”

Geoff interrupts, “Yo, my man! can we order a pizza?”

Suddenly, a large butcher’s knife flys by Geoff’s head and lodges itself into the wall.

“Woah! It’s cool, G, brown slop is cool! Right guys?” Almost everyone nods or laughs nervously.

“Your first challenge begins in one hour.” Chris announces as he turns around and walks back outside.

“What do you think they’ll make us do?” I hear Katie question D.J. on the other end of the table.

“It’s our first challenge. How hard can it be?”

Exactly one hour later, we’re all standing in bathing suit atop the tallest peak on the island. Below us is a steep drop into the lake.

“Oh shoot…” I hear D.J. say as he looks down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm realizing now that A03 doesn't have italics or bold???  
> Anyway, everything from this point forward is in Lily's POV, unless otherwise specified.  
> I'll try to update once a week from now on (but don't hold me to that because my schedule alternates between absolutely nothing and drowning in homework - there is no in-between).  
> Criticism? Suggestions? I don't bite or get offended easily, so don't be afraid to comment or otherwise contact me.


	3. The Not So Great Outdoors (Pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the last chapter, following the plot of the episode with the same name.   
> Lily gets put on a team, and, of course, drama ensues.  
> (Disclaimer! I have never been in Girl Scouts, so my knowledge of actually being a Girl Scout is basically non-existent. For plot purposes, pretend that what I say is accurate. Sorry to any Girl Scouts or past Girl Scouts reading this!)

Up on the cliff, I stand next to Bridgette near the edge.  
“Okay,” Chris starts, “Today’s challenge is three-fold. Your first task is to jump off this thousand-foot-high cliff into the lake.”  
“Piece of cake,” Bridgette says, slightly turned towards me. I nod in agreement, my hair swinging gently against my face.   
“If you look down, you will see two target areas,” Chris continues, “The wider area represents the part of the lake that we have stocked with psychotic…” Chris chuckles, “man-eating sharks. Inside that area is a safe zone - that’s your target area, which we’re pretty sure is shark-free.”  
“Is this even legal?” I question, earning a shrug from Bridgette and Tyler.  
“For each member of your team that jumps and actually survives, including Lily for whichever team she’s helping, there will be a crate of supplies waiting below. Inside each crate are supplies you’ll need for the second part of the challenge - building a hot tub.”  
Behind me, I hear D.J. muttering something about a hot tub, sounding a little excited.  
Chris goes on, “The team with the best one gets to have a wicked hot tub party tonight.”  
Everyone starts to look a little more determined at this, especially D.J..  
“The losers will be sending someone home, and gaining Lily as a permanent team member for the remainder of her time here on the island.”  
“Let’s see...Killer Bass, you’re up first.”  
Bridgette shuffles toward the edge, and peers down.  
“Oh, wow. So...who wants to go first?”  
She’s met with crickets. Owen says something about the interns testing the stunts first.  
“So, who’s up?” asks Eva.  
“Ladies first,” Duncan smirks.  
Bridgette straightens up, “Fine, I’ll go. It’s no big deal, just an insane cliff dive into a circle of angry sharks.”  
She safely lands in the target zone in a near perfect swan-dive. As soon as she pops back up, she waves at us excitedly.  
I lean closer to D.J., “Are we sure that she’s not part fish? ‘Cause she swims so well she might as well be one.”  
In front of us, Tyler yells about being next, before taking a running leap into the water.  
“Nice form, man!” I yell as he falls. When he hits the water, however, he hits one of the buoys, then slides back into the safe zone with a pained groan that I can hear all the way at the top of the cliff, “I think I spoke too soon..”  
Geoff jumps next, followed by Eva, and then Duncan.  
Next, it’s D.J.’s turn to jump, and he seems extremely nervous.  
“Nuh-uh. No way, man. I’m not jumping.”  
“Scared of heights?” Chris questions.  
“Yeah, ever since I was a kid.”  
“That’s okay, big guy.” Chris starts to walk over to him, “Unfortunately, that also makes you a chicken. So, you’ll have to wear this for the rest of the day.”  
Chris stands on his tiptoes to put a chicken hat on top of D.J.’s head.  
“Aw, man,” D.J. sighs, “For real?”  
Chris starts intimidating a chicken.  
“It’s okay, man,” I say, putting a hand on his shoulder, “We’re all afraid of something. You’ll get over your fear someday.” I smile up at him, hoping to make him feel better. “I was afraid of needles, but I got my ears pierced to conquer it, and look at me now! I have a total of four piercings, and I’m planning on getting another!”  
I get a smile from the big guy as Chris directs him towards the so-called ‘Chicken Path’ down the cliff, which is an escalator.   
“Next!” Chris calls.  
Ezekiel is the next to jump, and ends up hitting the side of the cliff on the way down. I wince, “That’s gotta hurt.”  
Harold jumps after him, and end up landing on top of the water in the splits and a scream so loud that it sends birds flying out of their trees across the island.  
“I take back what I said about homeschool, that had to have hurt way worse.”  
“Excuse me, Chris. I have a medical condition.” Courtney says.  
“What condition?”  
“A condition that prevents me from jumping off cliffs.”  
“Chicken!” I cough into my hand, “Sorry, allergies,” I say with a shit-eating grin at the glare I receive from Courtney.  
“You can chicken out if you want, but it might end up cost your team the win. And then they’ll hate you.”  
“It’s a calculated risk. I’ve seen the other team, and I don’t think nine of them will jump.”  
“That’s a load of bull if I’ve ever heard it,” I say, “I know for fact that if we lose, then at least I’m going to hate you. Keep in mind that we might end up on the same team, would you? And when you look back on this in thirty years, or whatever, are you going to be able to say that you had the guts to cliff-jump?”  
“Alright, here is your chicken hat.” Chris says before she has the chance to reply to me, “So, let’s tally up the results.” Chris looks at the roster in his hand, “...hold on. That’s eight jumpers and two chickens -”  
“Make that nine jumpers,” I say, taking a running stance, “I’m helping the Bass on this.”  
Before anyone responds, I take a running leap over the edge of the cliff, and tuck into a ball. As I hit the water, it’s colder than I expected, and I accidentally breathe some in when I gasp. I resurface, gasping and sputtering, and look around.   
It seems that I landed in the safe zone. Quickly, before the next person can jump, I swim to the edge and pull myself onto the boat.  
Before I know it, I’m back on dry land with the rest of my team.  
“Hey, you okay?” I ask Harold, who still seems like he’s in a bit of pain from his landing earlier.  
Wordlessly, and with a grimace, he nods.  
My attention is turned elsewhere as a large splash sounds, and I see two heads poke out of the water.  
“Hey, wasn’t one of them on the other team?” I ask.  
All I get in response are a few shrugs.  
“Hey, nice swimsuit, Princess. I like the tat.”  
“Thanks, Duncan,” I smirk, “I have another one. Maybe I’ll show you sometime?”  
“Lily!” Courtney gasps, while a few of the guys surround Duncan, congratulating him, “that’s completely inappropriate! You don’t even know if you’re going to be on the same team, let alone if he likes you like that!”  
“Chillax, he’s the one who started it. Besides, you don’t know what team I’ll be on either.” I cross my arms.

((Confession Start) “Okay, so I’ve decided the Courtney is definitely on my ‘do not like list.’ Definitely. Plus, my tat’s right under my arm, on my ribs. Most of my friends at home have seen it, since it’s pretty visible, depending on the shirt I’m wearing.” (Confession End))

A loud scream momentarily breaks up Courtney and I’s little spat, as Heather is thrown over the cliff by Lashawna.  
I turn back to Courtney and stick my tounge out at her, giving her the stink eye, before joining the guy’s conversation.  
The conversation stops when the girl are all smitten by something. Turning around, I see that it’s the pretty boy, whose name I never bothered to learn, riding to the beach on one of the sharks.  
“Now that’s just a little unfair. I mean - come on! It’s a man-eating shark, for goodness sake!” I yell, earning dirty looks from the girls, and some nods of agreement from the guys.  
A few more people jump before Chris announces that Owen’s the last jump, and that the Gophers need him to even things out. Immediately, all the Gophers start to yell and cheer him on, even Heather.  
We all watched as he took a running leap, and screamed the whole way down, before hitting the water in a ball, causing a massive wave to rush towards the shore.  
Everyone gets soaked again, but the Gophers just start cheering.  
“So, still think that nine of ‘em wouldn’t jump?” I question Courtney, smug smirk in place.  
All I get in response is an eye roll and a prissy huff.  
“The winners! The Screaming Gophers!” Chris yells through the megaphone from his place on top of the cliff.  
“Alright, everyone go dry off and change back into dry clothes. Meet back here in fifteen.” Chris announces, before turning around and walking out of our view.

 

As instructed, we all got changed back into our normal clothes and met back at the lake.  
The Gophers were given wooden pull-carts to take their cargo back to the cabins, while the Bass were forced to push, pull, or otherwise move their crates back.

((Confession Start) I glare into the camera, “We had more people who jumped than they did!” I yell, frustrated, “I mean, I guess me jumping with the Bass gave them a little bit of an unfair advantage, but still.” I cross my arms, then let out another frustrated groan. (Confession End))

After pushing for a while, Courtney starts to complain about getting a splinter.  
“Shut it, and pick up your crate,” Eva comes over and picks Courtney’s crate up on her own, before dropping it back on the sand, “chicken.”  
“Hey! I’m the only one with C.I.T. camping experience here, you need me.” Courtney says, matter-of-factly.  
Most of the team just give her blank looks.  
“None of us care, just for the record.” I say as I pass her, pushing my crate along, “And by the way, you aren’t. Girl Scouts get C.I.T. training if they decide to help out in any of the summer activities for the Daisy or Brownie troops.”  
Courtney scoffs, “As if you’re a Girl Scout. Last I checked, they don’t want you to have crazy hair or piercings. And I’m pretty sure you have to be a good influence.”  
“Okay, one, I’m a troop leader, so try me. Two, I am a good influence. I’ve been a scout since kindergarten, and I don’t plan on giving that up until I graduate high school. And three, they don’t really care what you look like. So shut. Up.”   
“Ooh, catfight!” Duncan says.  
“Watch it, Mohawk. This kitty’s got claws.”  
I roll my eyes and start pushing again, being the bigger person.  
“This isn’t over!”   
“Are you sure you’re a C.I.T.? I’m pretty sure that being someone who instigates fights isn’t a quality they look kindly on when searching for a camp counselor.”  
I keep going, ignoring Courtney’s protests.

((Confession Start) I scream. “Why is she like this? I’ve known her for maybe a total of three hours! Three! And she’s acting like she knows me, and like she can do whatever she wants!” (Confession End))

About twenty minutes later, Tyler drops his crate and announces that he needs to go to the bathroom. The two friends, whatever their names are, say they need to go too, so we all stop for them.  
Eva yells at them to be fast, since we’re already behind, and I yell for them to stay nearby and not get lost.  
“Ouch!” Courtney exclaims as she smacks her face.  
“It usually hurts when you hit yourself, hon.” I say sarcastically.  
“I think something just bit me!”  
Five minutes later, all three of our missing teammates are back, and we start moving again. Our short time on the move is interrupted when the friends stop suddenly to scratch at their lower halves.  
Chris comes up to us on a red ATV, and asks why we’re stopped since we’re already behind the other team.  
“Their butts are itchy,” says Courtney, who, it looks like, did actually get bit by something.  
Bridgette interrogates them, and finds out that they squatted on Poison Ivy in the woods, causing their itchiness.  
Duncan and I snicker and fistbump.  
“A real C.I.T. wouldn’t laugh at other’s misfortunes.” Courtney crosses her arms and frowns.  
“It a good thing that I’m not a C.I.T., then, isn’t it?”  
“But! You said!”  
I smirk, “I’m a full-blown camp counselor, therefore, I can do whatever I want, and I outrank you.”  
Courtney’s stunned.  
“Get bent, you Prep.”

 

 

Finally, about a forty minutes later, we arrive back at camp, missing the friends, who I learned were named Katie and Sadie.  
“Finally,” Harold sighs as he drops his crate.  
“Hey, what’s up you guys?” Trent greets. He’s one of the members of the Gophers that I don’t mind too much.  
“Hey, aren’t you missing a couple of white girls?” Leshawna asks, popping out of a crate.  
Courtney, as if realizing they aren’t with us anymore for the first time, looks around.  
“They’re getting a drink,” she covers.  
“Some C.I.T. you are…” I mumble.  
“Yeah, if they drink with their butts.” Harold jokes, earning a couple of snickers from Homeschool and I.  
I do a quick headcount while Courtney talks to Leshawna to make sure that everyone, aside from the two girls I know are missing, is accounted for.  
While I do so, the Gophers go off to be with the rest of their team, and Geoff gets on top of one of the crates.  
“Okay, dudes, it’s not too late. We can do this.”  
Other than Bridgette and I, it seems like nobody else is paying any attention. Harold’s passed out on the steps, Courtney’s playing with her swollen eye, and Homeschool’s picking his nose.  
“Gross…” I whisper to Bridgette, pointing over at him, “he’s picking his nose.”  
“Okay. Look guys, we have a hot tub to complete, and we need a project manager. Since I’ve actually been a C.I.T. before, I’m electing myself. Any objections?”  
“Uh, yeah. That’s not how democracy works. That’s a dictatorship.”  
“Where do we begin, Cyclops?” Duncan asks.  
“Nice one, dude!” I whisper to him, and high five him down where Courtney can’t see.  
Courtney comes over and gets in Duncan’s face, pointing towards the crates, where Geoff was still standing.  
“Open the crates.” she shifts her attention to Bridgette, who’s standing on the other side of me, “Bridgette, go find those itchy girls. We need all the help we can get!”  
About an hour later, Courtney’s words rang true.  
The Bass really did need all the help they could get.

((Confession Start) “I really don’t want to say this, but Courtney’s right. We do need all the help we can get. I mean, come on! The Gophers are wiping the floor with us! They work great together, while we just fight with each other!” I put my head in my hands. “I guess my wish to be on the Bass will come true, because it looks like the Gophers are gonna win. By a lot.” (Confession End))

An hour later, Chris finally comes by to check our hot tubs.   
To put it simply, the Gophers won on account of our tub falling apart as soon as Chris touched it.  
“Gophers, you’re safe from elimination, and you get to rock this awesome hot tub for the rest of the summer! Bonus!”  
The whole Gopher team cheers.  
“Killer Bass, what can I say? Sucks to be you right now.”  
The entire team looks downcast.  
“I’ll see your sorry butts down at the bonfire tonight. And Lily’s officially part of your team, and has invincibility, at least for tonight.”  
The Gophers keep on cheering, as the Bass all look at each other, wondering who we’re sending home. 

 

 

It’s dinner time before any of us actually say anything out loud about the elimination.   
“So...uh...what do we do now?” one of the best friends asks.  
“We have to figure out who we’re gonna vote off,” Courtney answers, looking around. I know that she’d vote for me if I didn’t have invincibility for the night.  
“Well, I think that it should be Miss Prep or the Brick House here.” Duncan says, pointing his thumb at Courtney and D.J. as he says his nicknames for them.  
“What? Why?” Courtney sounds shocked.  
“Because, unless I’m mistaken, you two are the only ones here wearing chicken hats, and if we ever have to lift a truck, I like our odds with the big guy.”  
“And you’re bossy,” I add.  
“You guys need me. I’m the only one -”  
“I’m a full-blown counselor. Your C.I.T. argument is invalid.”  
“Who would you pick, Courtney?” Bridgette asks. She seems like a pretty chill girl, but even she seems sick of Courtney constantly bringing up her former training.  
“What about...him!” she points at Tyler.  
Lindsays immediately gets up and yells her objection to it, before trying to cover it up by using the lack of salt shakers as an excuse.  
“Hey, hey! At least he jumped off the cliff, chicken wing.”  
“Shut it!”  
Geoff ends up being the one to break up the fight before it gets too out of hand, and Duncan announces that he’s going to go take a nap.  
“Mind if I join you?” I ask, following him out.  
“Sure thing, Princess.”  
We walk back to the cabin in relative silence. When we reach the steps, he goes to the boys' side, and I enter the girls' side.  
I pick a bed to be mine, now that I know that I’m on this team, and start to get some of my stuff out. After getting my pillow and blanket out, I spot something on the side of my duffle that I forgot I packed.  
Grabbing the items, I leave the girls' side, and knock on the guys' side.  
Duncan answers it almost right away.  
“Didn’t know you were so eager to see me.” I smirk.  
Duncan rolls his eyes, “I was by the door, Princess. What’s up?”  
I hold out my hands, showing off the cardboard box and plastic jar.  
“I have some peanut butter and graham crackers, if you want any. You said that you were sick of prison food, so I figured this was better than nothing.”  
“What the heck,” Duncan shrugs his shoulders, and steps aside to let me in.  
“So...which bed’s yours?” I ask, looking around. It’s cleaner than I expected, but the fact that we’ve been here for less than a day probably has something to do with it.  
He points to the top bunk closest to the door.  
“Ya think it would support both of us?”  
“Only one way to find out.”  
Duncan climbs onto his bed without using the ladder, and leans back against the wall. I climb up after him, having left my boots by my bunk on the girl’s side, using the ladder.  
Once we’re both situated, I open up the crackers, while Duncan opens the peanut butter.  
For a few moments, we just sit there and chow down on the small treat.  
“Why are you so nice?” he suddenly asks.  
“I’ll give you the full traumatic backstory version later, but basically some stuff happened, and I realized that life’s too short to go around being a priss about everything. Plus you’re a cool guy, so there’s that.”  
There’s another lull in the conversation, until Homeschool bursts in the door, looking terrified, followed by Geoff, and the rest of the guys.  
When Homeschool starts to try to hide under one of the beds, I speak up.  
“What’s his deal?”  
I swear Geoff jumps a foot in the air when he hears my voice, and Homeschool tries even harder to get under the bed.  
“Lily? What’re you doing in here?”  
I shrug, “It was boring being in the girl's cabin alone. Duncan and I’ve been talking since we left the main lodge.”  
Geoff wiggles his eyebrows at Duncan.  
“Boys…” I roll my eyes, “You didn’t answer my question.”  
“Oh, yeah. Zeke said some stuff about girls that he shouldn’t have. I’m pretty sure every girl on the team’s mad at him now.”  
I groan and lean my head back against the wall while Duncan laughs at my reaction.  
“I’m just gonna hang here until the campfire thing, then. Guys are so much calmer than girls.”  
“I thought all girls were like sisters or something?” Tyler says.  
“Nope. Most of us can’t stand each other, but we braid each other’s hair and do each other’s makeup while we come up with the perfect ways to sabotage each other. That’s why I like guys better. They’re less dramatic, and they’re at least honest with their feelings most of the time.”  
The guys all look stunned.  
“What? Did you really expect life to be like a chick flick?”  
It was so quiet, that I could almost hear the crickets softly chirping outside.  
“Hey, Zeke? I don’t know what you said earlier, but I’m not gonna hurt you as long as you don’t say anything dumb.”  
“He said that guys were stronger and smarter than girls.” Geoff whispers.  
I make a noise of acknowledgment, “You need to get out more, man.”  
Chris’ voice cuts through our conversation as he speaks through the megaphone right outside the cabin.  
“Attention Killer Bass! This is your last chance to cast your votes before the Elimination Ceremony tonight”  
“Welp, that’s me. I’ll see you guys in a few.”  
I hop off Duncan’s bunk, crackers and peanut butter in hand, and make my way towards the girls' side.  
When I enter, I ignore Courtney as she tries to get me to say where I’ve been, put my snacks away, and put on some sandals so I don’t have to lace my boots again.

((Confession Start) “Okay, so I know that this won’t make much of a difference since I’m pretty sure that all the girls on the team are gonna vote for Zeke, but I’m voting for Courtney to leave. She’s bossy, mean, and I would say that to her face.” (Confession End))

 

 

As the Bass all sit around the fire, Duncan starts talking to Homeschool for the first time since arriving on the island.  
“Dude, you’ve got a lot to learn about the real world.”  
Chris finally speaks up, starting a monologue.  
“Killer Bass, at camp marshmallows a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life. You’ve all cast your votes and made your decision. There are twelve marshmallows on this plate, but, since Lily has invincibility, she gets hers now.”  
Chris tosses me a marshmallow that I catch and cradle in my hands.  
“Now, there are only eleven marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the Dock of Shame to catch the Boat of Losers.”  
We all look down at the dock and see an old, crappy-looking boat waiting.  
“That means you’re out of the contest...and you can’t come back...ever.”  
Everyone gasps.  
“The first marshmallow goes to...Geoff.”  
With a relieved sigh, the blond goes up and gets a marshmallow.  
“Tyler.”  
He cheers.  
“Katie. Bridgette. D.J.”  
Those three get up with smiles and claim their treats.  
“Harold.”  
He fist pumps the air.  
“Sadie.”  
She scampers up to join her best friend.  
“Duncan.”  
He comes up to get his marshmallow, and I join him. The only two left sitting are Courtney and Zeke.

((Confession Start) “Please be Courtney! Please be Courtney!” I hold my hands like I’m praying, “I really, really want her gone!” (Confession End))

“Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening.”  
Chris stops talking and just stares the pair down for about half a minute, while dramatic music plays in the background.  
“...Courtney.”  
She sighs in relief, and I sigh in exasperation.  
Ezekiel is escorted to the Dock of Shame, and I wave a little to him.

((Confession Start) “I’m gonna miss him a little bit. I don’t really know why…” (Confession End))

“The rest of you, enjoy your marshmallows. You’re all safe...for tonight.”  
We all gather around the fire to roast our marshmallows while Zeke leaves the island for good.  
“Hey, look!” I wave my flaming marshmallow around.  
“That’s really unsafe! Someone could get hurt! Besides, a burnt marshmallow is totally gross.” Courtney tries to scold me.  
“I don’t really care what is or isn’t safe, Little Miss Prep. I’m old enough to know the consequences of my actions. And my marshmallow preferences have absolutely nothing to do with you.”  
I blow my marshmallow out to extinguish the flame, then eat it right off the stick. The look of disgust I get from Courtney is priceless.

((Confession Start) “I don’t usually like to pick on people, but something about picking on Courtney is just so satisfying!” (Confession End))

On our way back to the cabin, the Gophers are having their party, and flaunting it to get a rise out of us.  
With a roll of my eyes, I continue on, and call it a day, plopping into my bunk without even taking off my sandals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I wanted to thank everyone for being patient with me. I know, I said once a week updates, but with as busy as my schedule has been, I haven't even been able to log onto my laptop in about a week.  
> On the plus side, my older sister got married in a beautiful ceremony, so all the wedding drama I've been dealing with for the past month or so (I was the maid of honor, and therefore had to help plan, according to my sister) is finally out of the way.  
> Another plus, my brother-in-law is possibly the coolest person I know now, since he gave me his info to log into crunchyroll.


	4. The Big Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follows the episode of the same name.  
> More Duncan/Lily fluff, and more of Courtney being annoying.

Three days after the first challenge, I’m sleeping peacefully for once. 

My banket’s nice and soft, my pajamas are clean, thanks to the washing machine that Chris finally told us about, and it’s overall very peaceful and relaxing.

...or at least it was.

At the early, and overall ungodly hour of seven in the morning, Chris woke us all up via airhorn.

Even from where I was still laying in my bunk, I could hear Leshawna yelling about being woken up.

Five minutes later, everyone stood outside in the common area by the cabins, dressed, and in varying states of wakefulness. 

Naturally, I’m beside Duncan, leaning against him as my tired brain tries to process what’s going on.

“Remind me to never stay up late the night before a challenge.” I yawn as I lean further into his side.

Peeking my eyes open, I see Eva nearly bite Cody’s hand off for trying to touch her MP3 player.

“Nice. Eva tried to take his hand off.” I say as I gently nudge my elbow into my current support’s side.

 

((Confession Start) “I think it’s safe to say that I have a crush on Duncan, and it’s pretty obvious,” I yawn, rubbing some of the remaining sleep from my eyes, “We’ve actually bonded quite a bit these past few days, so I’m pretty sure he at least likes me as a friend.” (Confession End))

 

“Morning!” Chris greets, somehow wide awake, despite the sun not even being fully up yet, “Hope you slept well.”

“Hi Chris!” Heather also seems to be wide awake at this unholy hour, “You look really buff in those shorts.”

I make a small gagging noise.

“I know,” he responds.

“I don’t know what’s worse - Heather flirting with Chris, or Chris rolling with the punches on it.” I stage whisper to Duncan, earning a few laughs from him, as well as some nods of agreement from my teammates.

“Okay, I hope you’re all ready, because your next challenge begins in exactly one minute.”

As Owen starts to ask about when breakfast will be, I ask aloud, more to myself than anything, what Chris has in mind.

“It can’t be worse than the last challenge.” D.J. answers.

As I nod in agreement, Chris starts to yell about us having to run around the lake.

“He said that the run’s twenty kilometers, right? That’s like twelve and a half miles!”

“And that’s important because..?” Courtney sasses.

“You must not have been there for that conversation.” At the given moment, I’m too tired to care about whether or not Courtney’s listening to me, or if she even cares, “I grew up in America, so putting stuff into the American system of measurements helps me, since it’s familiar.”

“Oh, so you’re funny now.” Eva starts to walk over to Chris, obviously intent on beating him to a bloody pulp, “You know what I think would be funny-”

Duncan shifts me off his side to hold Eva back from bashing Chris’ face in, while Geoff helps him and Courtney tries to cool her temper off.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Eva accuses.

“A little.” Chris admits, “You have thirty seconds.”

We all get into a line at what I’m assuming Chris has declared the starting line.

“Okay runners! On your marks, get set, go!”

Almost everyone takes off running in a full sprint right away, determined to win the challenge.

 

About half an hour later, I’m falling behind in a group consisting of Harold, Gwen, Katie, and Sadie, as well as myself.

“Do you know how much longer?” Harold questions.

As Bridgette and Justin pass us, Gwen casts a light glare at the ginger nerd, “Don’t walk beside me.”

A bit behind us, I hear Heather and Leshawna get into a small fight, before Chris passes all of us on a light blue moped. 

“Pick it up people! If you’re not back by dinnertime, you don’t eat!”

 

About an hour later, I’m sitting in the main lodge, surrounded by empty water bottles.

“I never want to run that much again.” I wheeze, still slightly out of breath.

Duncan, who’s tired as well, looks at me with what looks like concern, “You okay there? You’ve been in for nearly ten minutes now.”

“I’ll be fine,” I continue to wheeze, “ I just have asthma. My dad smoked when I was little - damaged my lungs a bit. Give me another five minutes, and I’ll be good as new!” I smile through the slight pain in my chest, “I think I actually have my inhaler with me…”

After digging around in my pockets for a moment, I pull out a small, red L-shaped tube. After shaking it for a moment, I pop the lid off, and breath in two quick puffs of the medicine. Holding my breath, I put the lid back on it and put the tube back in my pocket.

Finally, I let out the breath, and start to breathe normally.

“See? I told you I’d be fine!”

Just then, Owen bursts through the doors, carrying Noah on his shoulder. He yells for us to clear a table as Leshawna walks though the open doors, and falls to her knees, catching her breath.

Harold follows afterwards, breathing heavily, and looking on the brink of passing out.

Courtney gets up to yell at him, but I get up and guide him over to my spot, before patting him down and extracting a blue inhaler from his pocket. Prepping it, I take the lid off the tube before pushing it in his mouth and giving him two pumps of the medication. Once he’s breathing normally again, I turn to Courtney.

“Some C.I.T. you are. You should have learned to spot an asthma attack, as well as various other common medical conditions in your training. Are you sure you actually learned anything when you were training?” 

Courtney becomes beet red, while Chris shows us our lunch.

 

((Confession Start) “The buffet, oh my god the buffet. It looked like Thanksgiving puked all over it, and it. Was. Beautiful.” (Confession End))

 

An hour later, we were all stuffed to the point of bursting.

“I’m pretty sure I just ate my weight in mashed potatoes.” I groan, rubbing my full stomach as I lean against Duncan once again.

“I still can’t believe that you ate a dozen nanaimo bars by yourself.” he comments, absentmindedly playing with my ponytail.

“They had chocolate in them. Why are you messing with my hair?”

Suddenly, he pulls his hand back like he’s been burned, “Sorry, I didn’t even realize I was doing that.”

With a slight blush, I look away, “I don’t mind, actually. It feels nice…”

“Okay campers!” Chris, quite literally, jumps in, “Time for part two of your challenge!”

“I thought eating was the second part!” Owen whines through a mouth still full of gravy. I recoil a bit in disgust as a bit of it flies from his mouth.

“What more do you want from us?” Gwen questions, with an almost pleading look on her face.

“Weird goth girl is right. Haven’t we been through enough?” Heather adds.

“Um, let me think about that…” Chris wears a look of contemplation for a moment, “No!”

I groan, burrowing further into Duncan’s side.

“It’s time for the Awake-a-Thon!” Chris announces.

As Chris describes the challenge, I zone out.

 

Twelve hours later, everyone’s still awake, though some are just barely.

Owen is doing some kind of frenzied dance, pumping his fists in the air, then falls face first into the dirt, sound asleep.

“That was sort of anticlimactic, wasn’t it?” I comment, still snuggled into Duncan’s side.

“Ugh, is he really that comfortable that you have to practically be glued to his side any time the two of you are near each other?” Courtney scoffs.

“Humans, in general, are soft and squishy creatures. This human,” I point my thumb to Duncan, “is one that I get along with and whose company I actually enjoy. If you want a cuddle buddy, go ask Cody. He seems more than eager to snuggle up to a girl.” I nod my head over to Cody, who is, once again, trying to make a move on Gwen.

Courtney cringes in disgust, “You’re a heathen.”

“Eh,” I shrug, “I’ve honestly been called worse than that. And at least I shower everyday. You’ve only showered once since we’ve been here, and when we’re in the cabin, I can smell you from my bunk.”

Red-faced, Courtney turns around and stomps off to sit next to Bridgette.

Meanwhile, Lindsay and Beth are doing headstands by the firepit.

“One of them’s gonna fall into the fire.” I say.

“My money’s on Braces.”

“Beth? Nah, she’s got near perfect form. She’s pretty balanced. Lindsay’s the one that would topple first, look at the way she’s rocking back and forth.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about this, Princess.”

I slightly shrug, “I used to make bets with my older brothers during the Olympics on the Gymnastics part. I still do, but my two oldest brothers, they’re twins, Jason and Mason, moved out, so Cam’s the only one left at home who is willing to watch with me.”

The conversation keeps going, jumping from one topic to the next without any pattern or breaks.

“Favorite color?” I ask.

“Piercing silver. Y’know, the color of the studds they put in?”

“Like this?” I move my hair, which I took down after we ate, to reveal my ear with the cartilage piercing.

“Exactly like that. Your favorite?” 

“Turquoise. It was green when I was little, then blue throughout middle school, and now they’ve been smooshed together in my mind.”

“Cool. Favorite food?”

 

Now twenty-four hours in, and some more people have fallen.

“What’s she doing?” I yawn as I point to Courtney, who’s jogging in place.

“Trying to stay awake and failing?” Duncan answers, his chin on top of my head. At some point, we had shifted from both sitting on the ground to him sitting on a stump with me in front of it, while he keeps playing with my hair or resting his chin on top of my head.

“Congratulations, campers. You’ve made it to the twenty-four hour mark.” Chris pipes up, somehow still chipper.

“How’s he still this awake? It’s the middle of the damn night!” I rant angrily. “I bet it’s coffee.”

“It’s time to take things up a notch. Fairy tales.”

Chef Hatchet comes out, dressed as a pink lamb, harp in hand, and I can’t help but crack up just a bit.

As Chris starts reading, Chef plays the harp. He’s actually pretty good at it.

“Once upon a time...there was, inside this boring kingdom, a boring village. And inside this boring, sleepy village, filled with very boring children who did very boring things…”

Chris continued to read out of his storybook, which I’m almost certain isn’t full of actual fairy tales, as more and more campers fell asleep.

I zoned out of Chris’ storytelling in favor of poking Duncan so he wouldn’t fall asleep.

Nearly twenty minutes later, however, my attention was brought back to Chris and Chef, as the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy played, and Chef emerged, dressed in a pink tutu and pointe shoes to boot.

As he started dancing and throwing glitter around, I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

“You’re seeing this too, right? I’m not going crazy from sleep deprivation?”

Duncan nodded wordlessly on top of my head as we both watched a full-grown, and very intimidating, man dance ballet.

 

Forty hours. 

It has been forty hours since this blasted challenge began, and I’m ready to pass out.

I groan as I flop back into Duncan’s lap, staring up at him with tired eyes.

“I just wanna sleeeeep…” I groan out as I squeeze my eyes shut.

Suddenly, hands are over my closed eyes, preventing me from seeing anything when I open them again.

“Duncan?”

“Believe me Princess, you don’t want to see this. Owen’s sleepwalking. Naked.” 

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Cool.”

 

Past the fifty hour mark, I’m still, amazingly, awake, but just barely.

“D’you think that Justin’s actually human?” I ask.

“Why do you ask?”

“He’s been standing just like that since the challenge started. Plus, he never talks, and nearly all the girls, and even some of the guys seem to think he’s the best thing since sliced bread.”

“Maybe he’s not human....”

“Would alien or sentient robot be more likely?”

“Alien. He showers, and water and robots don’t mix.”

“Agreed. What planet do you think he came from?’

“Jupiter.”

“Why?”

“Jupiter, Justin. They both start with a the letter ’j’.”

While Duncan and I were coming up with and developing our conspiracy theory, Gwen and Trent discovered that he had painted his eyelids, and fell asleep standing there.

“Hey, Duncan?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna pass out. Goodnight.”

And I was out like a light.

 

I woke up about fifteen hours later, with my head in Duncan’s lap, and Duncan petting my hair.

With a groan, I rolled toward Duncan and buried my face in his stomach. 

“It’s too bright!” I groaned and tried to bury my head further into his shirt.

 

((Confession Start) “He smells really good. Like campfire and pine, though that’s probably just from the forest, but also like musk and something that’s just...Duncan.” (Confession End))

 

“What hour is it?” I ask when I finally come out of my hiding spot in Duncan’s shirt. 

“Somewhere around seventy, I think. I kinda lost track when you fell asleep.”

“Sorry about that. I meant to say up the whole time with you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Princess.”

“Any new ideas on our theory about Justin?” I ask, trying to move away from the topic of sleep.

“Oh, you won’t believe what I thought of while you were out…”

 

Around hour eighty-five, Duncan and I decided to pull some pranks on our teammates.

“Do you think the hand in warm water thing actually works?” I ask as Duncan brings a mug full of warm water over to Harold, who’s passed out on the ground.

“Only one way to find out.”

Unceremoniously, Duncan grabs Harold’s wrist, and puts the sleeping boy’s hand in the water. In moments, a dark spot starts to form on Harolds pants, indicating he wet himself.

“Oh, gross! It works! Dude peed his pants!”

Duncan and I high five, before Harold wakes up and sees what happened.

Chris comes over, coffee in hand, and tells those of us who are out that we’re free to go back to the cabins, and suggests we go shower.

“See you in a bit. My hair’s even greasier than a burger that you get at some hole-in-the-wall diner.”

I wander off with the rest of the disqualified campers to go wash off the grease and grime of the last three and a half days.

 

When I get back, nearly two hours later due to the hot water running out, Gwen and Duncan are the only ones left.

“What’s so boring that almost everyone fell asleep?” I ask as I come back to the fire pit.

“History of Canada pop-up book.” was all Gwen said, seeming out of it.

I look to the huge book on Chris’ podum. 

“I didn’t even know they made pop-ups that big!”

Chris called a bathroom break for the remaining pair.

Duncan takes it, and within two minutes, the camera dude assigned to watch over him comes back with a note saying that he passed out on the can.

As Chris announces the Gophers the winners of the challenge, I head back to see if one of the guys would be willing to get Duncan from the bathroom.

Upon getting to the cabin, I see a steadily growing pile of assorted junk from the Bass cabin.

“What’s going on here?” I ask Bridgette as Eva keeps throwing things.

“Someone took her MP3 player, and she’s blaming all of us. She said she won’t stop until she gets it back.”

“Yeesh. And I thought that she wouldn’t be dramatic.”

Just then Heather comes over and pretends to be interested in what’s happening. As Courtney fills her in, Heather pulls the missing device from her pocket, and Eva comes over to retrieve it, singing Heather’s praises.

“So, sorry about that little misunderstanding.” Eva at least looks apologetic, as she scratches the back of her head, “Guess no one stole it after all.”

“I’d say that you’re wrong there. Heather seems to be the type to purposely sabotage the other team if it meant she wins. Normally when a person finds something that’s lost, they either take it to an adult, or ask around if the group’s small.”

Everyone turned to look at me.

“Everyone here knows that you treasure your music, and I’m pretty sure you’re the only one with a silver MP3, so these two things alone should have been an indicator as to who it belonged to.”

Everyone seemed a bit stunned that I had said that, and that I was actually supporting Eva.

“Anyway, D.J., Duncan fell asleep on the can. Do you think you could get him and actually put him to bed? Thanks.”

 

Later, the Killer Bass all sat around the fire pit that we had spent the last three days around, except we were sending someone home.

Chris walked over to the crowd of us, marshmallow tray in hand.

“You’ve all cast your vote and made your decision. There are only ten marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately return to the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers, and leave.” Chris dramatically threw his arms up, “And you can never come back, ever.”

“The first marshmallow goes to Duncan.”

Duncan got up from his spot, gently nudging me off his side as he did so, and grabbed his marshmallow.

When he sat back down, he gave me a tired smile, and I beamed right back up at him.

“Bridgette. Courtney. Katie and Sadie. Tyler. D.J..”

There were only three marshmallows left on the plate after Geoff was called, making me pretty nervous.

Absentmindedly, I grabbed Duncan’s hand and clinged to it. It wasn’t until I felt a reassuring squeeze that I even realized we were holding hands.

“Lily.” 

With a relieved sigh, I let go of Duncan’s hand (very reluctantly) and go retrieve my tasty treat.

When I sit back down, I’m surprised when Duncan grabs my hand and holds it in his own.

“Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening.”

Chris pauses dramatically for about half a minute, before calling Harold’s name.

Eva looks like her world’s falling apart as Chris tells her to leave. Quickly, however, she replaces that vulnerability with anger.

“Nice. Really nice. Who needs this stupid T.V. show, anyway?” She yells, storming off, kicking Chris in the shin in the process.

“Hey, Eva! Wait a sec!” I yell as I distangle my fingers from Duncan’s and scamper after her.”

“What do you want?” she practically barks at me.

“Give me your hand for a minute. Trust me.”

Her anger melts away for a moment as she holds her hand out. 

I quickly fish a pen from my pocket, and scrawl my email address onto the back of her hand.

“You seem pretty cool, so I want to be friends with you. Write me sometime, yeah?”

Her hard eyes melt for a moment, and she pulls me into a quick, but bone-crushing hug.

I give her a smile as she pulls away, and wave as I walk back to the fire.

“Buh-bye, Eva!” Courtney taunts.

Eva throws a sharp stick like a javelin at the annoying prep.

“Touchy.”

“You taunted her. You had it coming.”

“And what are you? Her friend?”

I reclaim my spot next to Duncan, and grab his hand again, tangling our fingers together, “Yeah, actually. You got a problem with that?”

Courtney ignores me in favor of making a toast to our team, even though we lost.

We all join in, and I look to Duncan and I’s linked hands with a smile.

Maybe our loss wasn’t so bad.


End file.
